Funny and both my 8 and 6 year daughters love it. ( )

Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril by Jarrett J. Krosoczka is the eighth of the Lunch Lady books. It's picture day and the Breakfast Bunch realizes something isn't right.

I read this book right after finishing two Discworld books featuring a con man forced to go legit: Going Postal and Making Money. So having spent two enjoyable books thinking about "opportunities" made the plan here blatantly clear.

And maybe because this plot is grounded in at least a glimmer of reality, Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril is one of my favorites. Sure, it still has the sleuthing, and the gadgets, but the basic crime is recognizable and understandable.

And besides, who actually likes picture day? OK, sure, you might get out of class for a time, but you have to dress up in your best. And then you spend the day worrying you'll mess up your outfit or you're uncomfortable. And then no matter how hard you try to give your best smile, you end up looking goofy. Right? Well, maybe all that trouble is part of a conspiracy. ( )

It was great fun rooting on the lunch lady throughout the story as she tries to save the students from the deceptive student photographer. It was a funny, clever story line. This book would be a great introduction to graphic novels for middle readers. It was easier to follow than some more involved graphic novels. ( )

PSC REVIEWWhen kids start breaking out in zits on picture day, a student council member accuses Lunch Lady of serving unhealthy food. Lunch Lady is outraged. She only serves healthy food. She and her sidekick in the lunchroom, Betty, decide to investigate. They discover the culprit is the photographer who has been making extra money by airbrushing the zits out of the picture. And not only that, he’s trying to get some of the kids into fashion modeling. And it’s SUPER LUNCH LADY to the rescue. Complete with karate chops and nunchucks, she and Betty take on the evil photographer. Krosozka knows kids and he understands grade school humor. Lunch Lady has a lot of eager fans in my school who are thrilled Lunch Lady’s out there saving elementary kids. This is a must have graphic novel series for the elementary school. ( )

Holy jalapenos! How have I never heard of Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Lunch Lady graphic novel series before?!? After all, Lunch Lady and the Picture Day Peril is already #8 in the series. I've seriously been missing out, but I can only hope that the rest of you MG readers, parents, and educators out there weren't as ignorant!

I've never been much for comics and graphic novels centered around superheroes, but Lunch Lady is a whole different story. I have very fond memories of my own childhood lunch ladies and I had fun imagining them as Lunch Lady and her sidekick, Betty, routinely rushing to the aid of students and solving silly mysteries. I definitely would have had fun reading about this superhero as a kid. On a side note, I found Betty's weakness for gossip magazines hilarious!

I loved that the kids in the novel were both proactive and smart. They often chimed in with witty remarks and interesting ideas. For me, the children were quite realistic. They made mistakes (sometimes big ones) and were sometimes clique-y, but they always set aside their differences when it mattered.

One of my favorite characteristics of the Lunch Lady series is how seriously clever and funny it is. Lunch Lady's conversation is always peppered with references to cooking and her gadgets are linked to the culinary as well. You may very well have a Whisk Whacker and Fish Stick Nunchucks in your very own kitchen!

I've only read one book in the Lunch Lady series and I'm already in love. I sincerely hope school libraries are carrying Krosoczka's fantastic series and kids are falling for Lunch Lady, Betty, and their students as well! ( )